Wednesday 2 February 2011

Finding time and discipline to read

Something struck me today, as it strikes me from time to time: I barely have time or energy to read anymore. Which is a shame. I have decided to start One Hand Clapping as I need to read more Anthony Burgess and because I wanted to read more serious, "profound" stuff. It is a delicious satire about consumerism and a viciously bitter picture of a society which culture is disintegrating and I want to blog about it and its subject, but I am reading it at a snail's pace. And I am ashamed about this. I read a few pages when I commute and during weekends, but the evenings I am usually absorbed by other things, house chores and my own exhaustion. It is the kind of novel that can be read within a week. it took me a weekend to read A Clockwork Orange when I was a teenager. I should take that long for One Hand Clapping.

It is not the only book which I read slowly. Last year was a shameful time for me reading wise. Maybe it is because I work. I just hope I am not getting acultured like the people depicted in the book. I miss academia, I want my brain to be active doing something else than work related stuff. Until I start acting again, reading is pretty much the only mental exercise that keep my brain alive and human (and here is another hint at A Clockwork Orange for those who read it). So I want to discipline myself and read more. I used to be an intellectual, after all.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You are not alone in this Guillaume. I am re reading a John Irving novel " The Hotel New Hampshire". It is a delicious read, but since I have read it before my brain doesnt have to do too much work. I have a pile of books waiting for "when I have the time, and energy". Sigh